In partnership with local community-based organizations, A Chance for Peace coordinates free peace events that include dance, music, and public discussion centered exclusively on peace and reconciliation. We create a unique opportunity for locals to share their concerns while upholding the ideals of peace. Their public commitment creates public accountability for non-violence and self-sufficiency.

A Chance for Peace has gone places local police are trained not to go, and in the process we've learned that some of the most feared groups are also the key to reversing endemic violence. Our private screenings and peace talks with gang leaders, including members of the Taliban, have turned gang leaders into peace leaders, successfully sustaining peace in their communities.

At A Chance for Peace we recognize that the 13 and 14-year-old of today are going to be the voters of tomorrow. We also recognize that political corruption is not going to change overnight, so... we must change. We've created an adaptable curriculum for primary and secondary schools, using the film as a teaching tool to demonstrate that not only is peace possible, it's happening now. Join in.

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PUBLIC SPEAKING

A Chance for Peace director Tyler Batson has been researching peace in immersive cross-cultural settings since 2007. In so doing, he has learned both the importance of listening and the power of storytelling. Previous public speaking events include middle schools, high schools, community centers, interviews on radio, and workshops, in Kenya, Egypt, Thailand, and the US, with goals of expanding to more audiences in the future.

Over the past 10 years Tyler has been A Chance for Peace with anyone who would listen. In so doing, we have an expansive audience of social media followers from all over the globe. Supporters on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest hail from Egypt, Mexico, Uganda, Germany, Israel, Jordon, The Dominican Republic, and all over the US. We are proud to show that peace is not a fallacy, but a beautiful reality!

OUR PROJECTS

A Chance for Peace has proven to be more than just a film. Our ongoing and developing peace projects extend the story of peace from a chance to a genuine opportunity to inspire young people to see themselves as agents of change for a better world.

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Peace Made Public Events

Public Accountability For Peace

Peace in Schools

Community-led peace education

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OUR COMMITMENTS

We know we can’t do this alone. A truly grassroots movement, A Chance for Peace thrives off a foundation of transparency and community accountability. We revisit our mission almost daily, and ensure that the story we tell is a story we share.

Our Mission

We believe that, now more than ever, peace must be made public. Our commitment to engage, dialogue, and create sustainable solutions for peace starts with empathy, grows as we listen to one another, and takes root when we act for the collective good. Peace is not something we think or something we feel, it's something we do. Our goal is to create a generation of optimists who believe that peace is possible because they see themselves as agents of change - change that is tethered to compassion, first and foremost

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2017 Annual Report

Ten years after the post-election violence that displaced 600,000 Kenyans, A Chance for Peace was brought to light. This past year, A Chance for Peace was screened publicly for the first time and returned back into the hands of the men, women, and children who helped create it. More than a film, A Chance for Peace is a tool that is directing community consciousness away from the divisiveness of politics and closer to where it belongs: the collective good. Click below to check out our 2017 Annual Report to learn more.

…How can we find peace once again when we can’t even look our neighbors in the eye? Apparently Tyler has some insight into the matter. Tyler spent almost a decade working on his first documentary, A Chance for Peace. During the 27,000 miles traveled throughout his journey, Tyler filmed in post-revolutionary Egypt, was in Turkey at the onset of the crisis in Syria, attended labor party protests in Thailand, and documented the stories of village artisans in India’s vibrant craft sector. But the majority of his time was spent traveling throughout Kenya, 8 months after a contested election launched the previously peaceful country into post-election violence that displaced 600,000 people, killing over 2,000. The lack of media coverage on such a tragic turn of events was Tyler’s impetus for action. While the whole world seemed to turn away from the crisis, Tyler walked right into the epicenter with a cameraman and a question: “Is peace possible?”

What surprised you making this project? One of the most jarring moments for me was when we were walking through Kibera slum, the epicenter of the post-election violence. I was looking down at the ground and saw a grenade of some kind just lying there in the dirt. It said “MADE IN U.S.A.” This war that the media dismissed as just another case of African tribalism was our war. We were there. America was complicit in this violence. Fast forward to today, what really surprises me are the parallels to our society even though this happened over 8 years ago. The protests, the call for an end to the political establishment, and the fact that the Kenyan people were the ones paying the price – I looked at all of this and had to ask myself, How in the U.S. any different? Our country today is divided into tribes with our identity politics. Every human being is capable of violence and peace, good and evil – as human beings, none of us are above these things. So when I saw that grenade, it made my resolve to focus on peace even stronger.

How do we find peace?

We need to talk about peace, but we can’t talk about it if we aren’t engaging in it. There is a line in the film where I say, “Peace is not something you think or something you feel; it’s something you do.” We all have a role to play, but we need to dismantle this idea that being right supersedes doing right.

What we see in “A Chance for Peace” is that all the men, women, and children we profiled instinctively knew how to engage in peace. As many of them put it, “We are just doing the best we can with what we have.”

The U.S. is experiencing a crisis of culture. There are racial, economic, and xenophobic issues that are coming apart at the seams. What we see in “A Chance for Peace” is that all the men, women, and children we profiled instinctively knew how to engage in peace. As many of them put it, “We are just doing the best we can with what we have.” At the time of Kenya’s post-election violence, the US media, and therefore the American public, didn’t see a chance for peace. The media framed the Kenyan identity in the context of just a bunch of poverty-stricken people that now had to endure the hardships caused by their follies. So it comes as no shock to me that when the US media and the American public is confronted with the same issues on their own soil, the instinct is to respond just the same – spinning out with stories of violence, hate, distrust, and fear. We are stuck in a well-honed, misplaced sense of self-righteousness. Take a look what the peacemakers in this film were able to achieve with so little. There was a man who built an academy from the ground up; a nurse who was able to provide free medical care for thousands of people; and a graffiti artist that with just a paintbrush and some white paint became a “Messenger of Peace.” Peace was a grassroots effort, and it can thrive anywhere. If we insisted on peace that same way many of us insist on war and attacking others, imagine where we’d be. So to find peace I think we need to reject this idea that we can’t create peace ourselves. Peace is a practice that starts with empathizing with each other, but first we have to take a cold hard look in the mirror and reject this idea that we are somehow better. These tribal tendencies aren’t limited to so-called “third-world” countries. We are a tribal species, but these memberships go by different names, be it Democrat or Republican or however you want to divide it. We’ve deluded ourselves into thinking we are above that because we are a “civilized” country. All we need to do it look around to see that we’re not above it. Lynching, for example – is that civilized? Police brutality? No. But people are waking up. The US is seeing it’s own chance for peace right now, and I am not afraid. And I want to show people that they have nothing to be afraid of either. This is all part of an evolutionary process, and if we want to survive it, fear cannot direct our sails. We must actively choose peace, just as the Kenyans did. We must restore trust, view each other as a member of the human tribe, and build empathy. Everyday.

A remarkable story, beautifully captured. A Chance for Peace delves into the most important question facing mankind – what does peace look like? Filmmaker Tyler Batson weaves a narrative that is raw, honest, and emotionally charged. A must watch!

JOEL ALCARAZ

Community Manager

Rising out of a country unfairly stereotyped as violent and riddled with despair, A Chance for Peace is a refreshing beacon of hope. Our fellow human beings in this film can truly teach us so much, especially now.

Wawi Amasha

Kenyan Artist & Designer

For people dealing with trauma from a disruptive environment, the concept of peace can be hard to grasp. But ‘A Chance for Peace’ elevates the pursuit of peace to greater heights, where it belongs. The beautiful lesson of the film is that, though we suffer, our deepest desire as humans is not to hate but to heal. The social good that’s emerged as a result of the film demonstrates that, though it may be hard to grasp, our spirits persist once we rise up and choose peace.